


somewhere on the road to victory

by stanzas



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Best Friend Squad Shenanigans, Canon Compliant, F/F, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Humor, falling in love in quiet moments, summary is a little misleading because this fic is about glimmer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-06
Updated: 2019-02-06
Packaged: 2019-10-23 04:15:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17676272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stanzas/pseuds/stanzas
Summary: For all of her many strengths and talents, Adora really isn’t a strategist.





	somewhere on the road to victory

**Author's Note:**

> is this a character study? yes? no? maybe? sometimes i have ideas and i need to put down and just. let them stew for a while. i often struggle w/ writing characters for new fandoms and its especially hard cus there isnt a lot of content to base it off of or other writing out yet. she-ra is a baby fandom……
> 
> i have 4 half started fics for she-ra content sitting in my drafts and i. dont know what im going to do with them. i decided to start with this because im trying to nail down their dynamics before i attach myself to anything too major. one of them is definitely theme-heavy and takes a different look at the war on etheria, and one is definitely silly and probably something ill tackle before the heavy one lmao. i also have a slightly different take on she-ra and her portrayal because "she-ra" in the new series seems...complicated. i wish we got more explanation but it's only the first season so :pensive:
> 
> no beta cus theres practically nobody in this fandom and i dont have friends who know enough about she ra to correct me
> 
> enjoy. or if you dont enjoy this then perish i guess
> 
> edit 5/1/19: ok ive been informed that u cant actually see stars on etheria but i call bullshit so let me live my sappy romantic writing style in PEACE

“You’re pointing that thing the wrong way,” Glimmer teleports behind the banners and pushes the guard currently fixated on Bright Moon’s castle in the distance. The guard shrieks and falls off the top of the watchtower. It’s not a long fall, really, but the scream is especially long as they fall.

Glimmer returns to the ground in a flash. “Are you okay?”

The guard appears too embarrassed to reply. Maybe because Glimmer scared the pants off them. Maybe because they feel guilty for slacking off and accidentally letting the beam scope drift too far to the left and put the castle in the line of fire.

“I’m sorry, princess!” The guard finally stands on their two feet and marches back to the ladder by the tower. “I promise to remain on guard!”

“I’ll send someone to relieve you,” Glimmer replies. “You look tired. No worries.”

“Uh, I insist --”

“No, I insist.” Glimmer may be a good walk from queenhood, but her word is pretty much law. She has pretty much the same amount of respect that her mother holds. ( _Pretty much_ being the key word; that hadn’t stopped a band of kids from throwing bubble-like packs of jelly at her and Adora as they walked into the inner villages.)

Adora held her hand as they dodged and ducked under the market covers in a desperate attempt to escape the jelly projectiles. Despite the mess (it took hours for Glimmer to finally release the bright blue stains from her hair), Adora’s grin remained throughout the impromptu attack. (Glimmer also has a strong suspicion Bow might’ve been the one who supplied the kids with the jelly bags, but she doesn’t have enough proof to accuse him yet. She knows for sure, though, that kids don’t have aim like that.)

Accepting the new orders without any further complaint, Glimmer makes her way back to the guard post and informs one of the guards to send someone to relieve the watch tower. The watch tower was all Bow’s genius -- a way to scope out impending attacks, arrivals from allies, or people seeking refuge behind Bright Moon’s borders. People who needed help. People who needed a safe place to rest.

She makes her way to the upper floors and seeks council. Bow is waiting for her in the inlet opposite the wall of her room, eating a large fruit with one hand and tossing a chain in his free hand. Release. Catch. He doesn’t startle when Glimmer teleports over his head and lands on his chest, but he does sputter. Bits of fruit spray out of his mouth while Glimmer elbows him in the stomach.

“Glimmer!” His cry turns into choked laughter as Glimmer rolls him off the cushion. “Ow! What’s with you today?”

“ _Bored_.” Glimmer sighs and flops back into the cushion. “You see Adora anywhere?”

“No. She’s around...somewhere.” Bow pops back up and falls back onto the cushion. “Maybe training?”

“I just checked the war room and the training arena.” Glimmer hops off the seat and walks to her room. “I guess she doesn't want to be found.”

“I guess.” Bow replies. He twirls the chain around on his finger. Glimmer pushes into her room and closes the doors behind her.

As it turns out, Adora is sleeping on her bed. Glimmer isn’t sure how she managed to find her way up on her own, but she’s out. Doesn’t stir after Glimmer calls her name. Glimmer planned on taking a nap herself, but she can’t find a comfortable way of slipping into her own bed without disturbing Adora either.

She decides to sit on the other side, watches the gentle rise and fall of Adora’s shoulders as she breathes. Pulls her legs up to her chest and leans her head against the ropes. Counts her heartbeats. Allows the tender lighting to open something unspoken and let it settle; like rain freed from the sky.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Glimmer doesn’t know when she opened her eyes, but Adora is awake now. Watching her.

“You stole my bed.” Glimmer answers. She offers her hand. “Are you coming to dinner?” Adora takes her hand without answering. Follows her down, her hand never drifting apart from Glimmer’s fingers for too long.

* * *

“You know who’s awesome and cool?”

“Hmm...me?”

“I was gonna say Frosta, but you’ll do I guess.”

Glimmer pushes her, laughing. “Mean!”

Adora grins, spinning away with a measured twist of her feet. “Can’t be as mean as you are. You’re the one who woke me up with --”

“-- I told you I _tripped_ \--”

“-- a bucket of freezing water on my head this morning. I’m just giving you…” Adora curls her tongue behind her teeth, smile bright and voice light. “...the _cold_ shoulder!”

“I should dump another bucket of water on your head.”

“You can certainly try,” Adora says. A challenge. Glimmer narrows her eyes. “You’re gonna start a war, princess.”

“Is that a threat?”

“Only if you lose. So I guess it is.”

Adora’s shriek after Glimmer surprises her with another water bucket to the face before bed is even more satisfying than the first one.

* * *

Standing on watch tower is a tall figure with a sword, a cape of hair blowing on her back. Glimmer calls her name and freezes, struck by wonder of She-Ra’s eyes glowing at her. Glimmer calls her name again, and steps back. She leaps from the tower and lands, the ground indenting beneath her feet. Her back straightens.

“Do you need something, princess?”

“No,” Glimmer replies. “Couldn’t sleep. You weren’t in your room so I...went for a walk.”

“Was something troubling you?” Glimmer thinks to herself, in quiet moments, why She-Ra brings out a formality and stiffness that is otherwise invisible. If the voice of She-Ra is so old, that even channeled through the young body of Adora, does not escape the history of her past lives.

“Not really, no.”

“Then you should return to your room.” She-Ra turns her back and looks out into the forest. Her brows drawn together; tight. Concerned. “I will keep watch. No reason to worry tonight, princess.”

Glimmer’s feet step back, but her mouth opens. “And what about you?”

She-Ra doesn’t turn, but her hand twitches on the sword in her hand. “I...I would prefer to keep watch tonight. There was movement in the woods at twilight. Most likely nothing, but I could not sleep easy wondering…”

Glimmer hoists her bravery and takes a step closer to She-Ra. She slips her hand into Adora’s open one; the one not clenched against the sword. “I think you should rest, too.”

She-Ra nods. A faint glow, and suddenly her hand is looser in Glimmer’s, and She-Ra shrinks. Adora faces her when she raises her head.

“You’re right,” Adora says, after a moment. “It’s probably nothing.” She squeezes Glimmer’s hand, and looks above the canopy of the trees that stretch into the dark line where she expects the horizon.

“We can stay out here a little longer.” Glimmer reassures her. “The stars are nice tonight.”

Adora huffs. “You know, I never saw stars like this until I came to Bright Moon. Everything in the Horde is so...dark. Cloudy.” She tilts her chin. Doesn’t look at Glimmer, her eyes on the stars. “So far away, and still so beautiful.”

Her profile glows with the moonlight as her back-light. “Yeah,” Glimmer says.

* * *

Adora’s nose wrinkles at the state of the inner tunnels. “We’re really going down here?”

Glimmer nods, passing her hand over the wet stone walls. Likely drainage from the soil above. The rain from earlier in the morning had yet to settle. “Bright Moon legend says there’s an ancient tunnel somewhere under the castle that leads to fortune. I think there’s probably Ancient Ones tech. Bow thinks it’s a library.”

Bow makes his presence known at the mention of his name. “That’s because all these dumb legends say there’s magic shields and bows in their secret ancient hiding places and all it turns out to be is a book. ‘ _The greatest weapon of all_ ’ is a _book_.”

“You’re still angry about the book.”

“ _YES_. I was promised the most powerful weapon in all of Etheria, and what do I find? A book that teaches me how to make knots. Knots, Glimmer. I know how to tie knots! Knots are not going to take down the Horde! Knots aren’t going to help me!”

“You never know.” Adora says, straight faced. “You could always make a giant trap and capture them in a big net.” Her mouth twitches. Glimmer turns her head so Bow can’t see her smirk.

“Shut up. That’s Netossa’s job.”

“Enjoy your knots.”

Bow opens his mouth to reply, but Glimmer smacks him in the chin by accident after she spots a spot of mismatched stone on the opposite wall. He makes an insulted noise, and is shushed quickly by Glimmer. “Magic tunnel, here we come!”

* * *

It’s a library. Of course it is. Bow is smug in the face of victorious pride, but frustrated at the sight of wall to wall paper towers.

“I hate reading.” Adora complains, after Glimmer dumps a stack of books related to Ancient Ones history. She couldn’t find anything related to She-Ra or her predecessors, but all knowledge is knowledge gained.

“Really?” Glimmer asks. She grew up in a castle. She had tutors. Teachers. She grew up with the knowledge she’d become queen and queens were tasked with reading...a lot. The idea of hating it wasn’t even something she entertained; or something she acknowledged as something beyond her duties.

“Yeah.” Adora props her chin on her hand. “Always had trouble with it as a kid. Never really stuck.”

“That’s sad.”

“Is it?” Adora says it like it’s not a question, but there’s a different quality of her tone. “It’s just not something I enjoy. That’s all.”

“Well, I like reading.”

“Yeah,” Adora says. “I know. You’ve read the same book a dozen times, the one about _the handsome princess and her wife writing letters and sending them across forests with the help of their pet owls --_ ”

“So you _did_ read it!”

The lighting in the underground ancient library isn’t decent. Minimal at best. And she knows Adora’s blush burns even in the dim light. “Maybe I did. I get bored, you know.”

“I know.” She picks up a book about _Etherian Stars & Constellations_ and passes it to Adora. “I think you do like reading. You just haven’t found any good books.”

“I don’t think _‘The Princesses of Grielle_ ’ hardly counts as high art literature, Glimmer.”

“But you liked it! I can see you blushing. You _liked_ it.”

“I -- I am not.”

“Admit it.”

“No. It was _okay_. Nothing special.”

Glimmer lifts her hand to Adora’s warm cheek. Adora doesn’t flinch away; but she doesn’t lean into it either. “You’re blushing.”

“I’m not embarrassed.”

“I didn’t say you were.”

Bow interrupts them by shouting something about Possessed Evil Ancient Ones Mice Soldiers, effectively tossing their conversation into the wind and scattering it into a million directions. All the while, Glimmer watches Adora’s smile, remembers the way Adora’s skin burned under her palm, and wonders.

**Author's Note:**

> i love comments. kudos are also pretty sexy.
> 
> i create and take responsibility for the headcanon adora curls her tongue behind her teeth when she smiles. i do that and people apparently find it cute so im projecting babey!
> 
> the title meaning is me being a pretentious fic writer. i think its supposed to represent how adora falls in love with glimmer without expecting to, and finds herself in situations of her own making that lead to her falling even more in love. or something. dont ask me i just do the technical slapping on the keyboard part of writing and let my muse run wild
> 
> my tumblr is @[glimtradora](https://glimtradora.tumblr.com)


End file.
